


a thousand armies couldn't keep me out (this is our ungodly hour)

by AllTheNamesIWantedWereUsed



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Agents of SHIELD Pre-Season 5 Space Speculation, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous Relationships, Angst, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, Maybe - Freeform, Missing Persons, Moral Dilemmas, Undercover, another S5 AU bc why tf not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 11:37:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12456944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllTheNamesIWantedWereUsed/pseuds/AllTheNamesIWantedWereUsed
Summary: Daisy's been missing for nine months, and Robbie is willing to do a lot of things to get her back.Hopefully, she forgives him for this one.Title comes from Florence+The Machine's "Seven Devils" and The Fray's "Ungodly Hour."





	a thousand armies couldn't keep me out (this is our ungodly hour)

**Author's Note:**

> I found this AU in the depths of my WIPs and couldn't not post it.

To say that Robbie doesn’t like clubs would be an understatement. He hates them.

 

He didn’t always used to, his opinion of them had been rather indifferent, at least until he became Ghost Rider. His senses have heightened ever so slightly since then, just enough to put him into sensory overload every time he sets foot in places like this,

 

He’s not really sure if it’s the smell of booze, smoke, and sweat, the music pounding through the speakers so loud it rattles one’s bones or the flashing seizure-inducing lights. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s learned not to like crowds, particularly when there’s so much potential for sinners to be hiding in every one.

 

He doesn’t bother trying to force his way through the sea of drunken dancing; instead, he skirts around it, as close to the wall and as far away from the crowd, avoiding eye contact as he heads for the bar.

 

“What can I get for you?” the bartender asks, not breaking eye contact as he wipes the inside of a glass.

 

“I’m here for a meeting with Omega-53,” Robbie answers, and those words charge the air with a tangible tension.

 

“Number?” the bartender says, a bit tersely.

 

“4467-4337,” Robbie replies tonelessly, rattling off the numbers. “That was my ID, at least. On the forum, I was called-”

 

“That’s all we need. Give me a second.”

 

The bartender disappears, and the minutes tick by slowly, and Robbie’s glove-covered fingers tap on the counter, trying to do something to quell the anxious feeling that hasn’t gone away for the past nine months. 

 

_ It’s barely been a week since Robbie’d come back from the other worlds when the knock comes at the door, soft but insistent, and in a pattern that brings a shadow of a grin to Gabe’s face.  _

 

_ Robbie’s heading for the door, his hand reaching for the knob when he hears “Gabe? Are you there?” asked by a voice that stops him in his tracks. _

 

_ Worried and out of breath, not the quiet tone he remembered last, but still… _

 

_ Was his brain playing tricks on him? It couldn’t be…could it? _

 

_ He opens the door to see Daisy standing there. Her expression turns from one of concern to one of shock.  _

 

_ “Wh-Robbie?”  _

 

_ He doesn’t quite know how to respond to that, especially when his name falls from her lips with such a breathless ease, followed by a small, incredulous smile that curves the corners of her mouth.  _

 

_ He’s saved from answering because Gabe comes up behind him with a casual, “Hey, Daisy.” _

 

_ He can almost feel the way the warmth of her gaze fades as she turns her attention to Gabe, stumbling over her words. _

 

_ “The panic button- I thought you were hurt, Gabe, and why didn’t you tell me-” _

 

_ “Thought I’d surprise you,” Gabe says, the only person with coherent thoughts at the moment, it seems. “Come on in.” Daisy carefully moves towards the doorway. Robbie steps back to let her over the threshold, and she passes him, almost close enough to touch.  _

 

_ “You hungry?” Gabe asks. “We ordered pizza.” _

 

_ “No, but thanks, Gabe,” Daisy replies. _

 

_ Gabe just shrugs. “More for us.” He wheels himself into the kitchen, leaving Robbie alone with her. _

 

_ “When did you get back?” she asks him, turning to face him, and he almost doesn’t hear her as he takes her in, trying to find a difference from when he saw her last. There’s a dark bruise on her jawline, and her eyes have dark circles smudged under them, not a result of makeup, just lack of sleep. Her clothes are wrinkled beyond salvation, and her hair falls past her shoulders, mussed and wild.  _

 

_ He’d be lying if he said that she didn’t look just as beautiful as the last time they’d seen each other.  _

 

_ “A few days ago,” he answers finally. “I didn’t know Gabe contacted you.” _

 

_ “Yeah, he reached me through the panic device I gave him a little while ago, told me to come over as soon as I could, saying ‘it was an emergency,’ but not much else.” _

 

_ “Sorry about that.” _

 

_ She shakes her head, waving it off. “I was already on my way to L.A. for a job, anyway. It was pretty convenient, actually.”  _

 

_ “I’m glad you’re here,” he says, wanting to kick himself almost immediately. _

 

_ She just smiles at him, and there’s an angelic softness to her features as she says, “I could say the same for you,” and that’s when Robbie knows he’s more far gone than he’ll ever care to admit. _

 

_ “What’s the job you came to do?” he asks, changing the subject. _

 

_ “I managed to pin down one of the Watchdogs’ more crucial operative buildings,” she answers. “If I can get in, I’ll be able to hack their system, derail some of their funding and take out as many of them as I can. It might not be a lot, but it’s a blow to them, however small.” There’s a hardness that leaks back into her expression. _

 

_ “Do you want help?” he asks. _

 

_ She smiles, but shakes her head. “No, I’ve got this, but thanks. Besides, you’ve only been back a few days. You should stay here, catch up with Gabe, live your life a little before you get dragged into any more crap.” She sounds almost too earnest when she says that.  _

 

_ “If you’re sure,” he says warily, and she nods in affirmation. “What are you doing once you’ve completed the job?” _

 

_ “At that point, I’ll have been in one place for too long. Have to keep moving, y’know?” She glances towards the kitchen where Gabe is. “It protects more people than just me...I should get going now, actually.” _

 

_ “You really have to leave right away?” The echoing of her words from four months ago isn’t intentional...not entirely. Her smile is tinged with a sad apology. _

 

_ “Yeah.” A long silence settles over the both of them, but it’s loud with all the words he won’t say.  _

 

_ “Well, jeez, you two, are you ever going to shut up?” Gabe comments as he comes back into the room, a full plate on his lap. “Why’s it so quiet?” _

 

_ “I have to leave,” Daisy explains, wincing a bit at the way Gabe’s expression sobers. “I have a job I need to do, and you know I can’t stick around after that.” _

 

_ “Yeah, I know, for everyone’s protection,” Gabe says, a bit sourly. _

 

_ “I’ll definitely be back before your birthday,” Daisy promises him. “Scout’s honor.” _

 

_ “You were never a Girl Scout.” _

 

_ “How do you know?” she counters. “Anyway, I’m glad you guys are safe, but I really do need to head out before my window closes.”  _

 

_ “Good luck,” Gabe says. “Not that you’ll need it.” _

 

_ “Flattery gets you nowhere,” she replies loftily. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”  _

 

_ “I’ll walk you out,” Robbie offers, ignoring the smirk Gabe gives him. Daisy accepts, and it’s not long until they’re outside, walking towards her familiar van. It’s strangely comforting to see that piece of vehicular junk, less comforting to know it'll soon be gone. _

 

_ “So...you’re back,” she says, hands stuffed in her pockets. “For good?” _

 

_ “Yeah, I think so.” _

 

_ She smiles, a bit to herself. “That’s good.” _

 

_ “We’ll see.” _

 

_ “No, it’s a good thing,” she insists. “I’m glad you’re back.” _

 

_ “Only because the Darkhold’s finally gone,” he says as they reach her van.  _

 

_ “Like, destroyed gone?” _

 

_ He nods.  _

 

_ “That’s good too, but I’m just happy you made it back.” She leans against her van. “With the team gone, I was hoping you’d come back. I’m not as alone anymore now that you’re here.” _

 

_ “What happened to the team?” he asks. _

 

_ “I’m not sure. We got captured, knocked out, and then I woke up in the middle of a field in Kansas, if you’ll believe that,” she says. “They even took my gauntlets, the bastards.” She tries to crack a smile. “I don’t know where anyone else is.” _

 

_ “I’m sorry,” he says, not sure what else to say. _

 

_ “I’ll find them eventually,” she says. “Besides, you’re here now...and that’s good.” She ducks her head a bit and they fall into the same quiet of unspoken words. What  _ can _ he say after all this time and space? _

 

_ “I should head out,” she says finally. “I’ll call when I’m done.” _

 

_ He just nods, not sure what else to say. _

 

_ She’s opening the door when he reaches out, his hand finding hers atop the van’s door handle. _

 

_ “Just...be careful, alright?” he says(begs, more like, but that’s a matter of nuance), a bit surprised at himself, “You’ll call me if you need a hand?” _

 

_ She smiles. “Absolutely,” she says, and he drops his hand, stepping away from the van. _

 

_ There’s a feeling of finality to the way she shuts the door, starts the van and drives away down the street, but maybe that’s just him.  _

 

_ He always did have a penchant for pessimism. _

 

That was the last time he’d seen her, last time they’d ever spoken a word to each other. It was like she’d disappeared into thin air.

 

Gabe checked all the accounts she could’ve reached him from, examined his messages almost every hour, even pressed the panic button more times than either of them could count. He swore up and down that Daisy went dark sometimes, but never like this, she always maintained a small connection.

 

She was just gone.

 

Months have gone by and Robbie was still trying to figure out where she was. His best guess is that the showdown with the Watchdogs had gone badly, maybe they’d captured her to try and blackmail Coulson or something. 

 

He refuses to even consider the alternative.

 

The bartender finally comes back, and Robbie can sense someone coming up behind him, and he tenses.

 

“Jim here will take you back to meet Omega-53,” the bartender says, gesturing to Robbie’s left. 

 

Robbie turns his head slightly to see a man twice his size, clothed in black and palming the gun in the holster on his belt. Jim doesn’t say anything, just jerks his head, motioning for Robbie to follow him. 

 

He’s led through the back and outside into an alley, and Robbie’s half-expecting to get jumped, but Jim keeps walking until they reach the warehouse three addresses over, to a side door chained and locked. Robbie sees the flash of a key and the chains slide out of the handles with a series of scraping and clinking noises that echo off the walls. The door creaks open, and Robbie follows his guide with a growing sense of trepidation.

 

The streetlights shining through the cracks in the boards covering the windows is what illuminates Jim’s figure and Robbie keeps following. His head is pounding, a combination of anxiety and the Rider tasting sin in the air, wanting to be unleashed. 

 

After what feels like hours, he hears a click as all the power turns on and LED lights flood his vision. He grits his teeth as his eyes adjust to the light, and when they do, he’s standing in a large room, the only furniture being two chairs, surrounded by a circle of men in bulletproof vests holding guns. They part to let Robbie step in, but then close back the moment he passes them. 

 

“Antonio, isn’t it?” One of the men in the circle turns to face him, and steps towards Robbie and the chairs. He’s tall, with close-cropped blond hair, a square jaw, and hard blue eyes: Omega-53. Robbie only nods.

 

“Sit, please.” 

 

Reluctantly, Robbie takes a seat, and the other man follows suit. 

 

“I’ve followed you closely on our forums,” the man says, “and I must say, I’m pleased to be interviewing a man with your passion.” He adjusts the hold on his gun and extends his hand to Robbie, a hand he takes grudgingly. Even wearing his gloves, the contact makes Robbie’s skin crawl and the Rider roar inside his skull. 

 

“With such a powerful hatred for Inhumans, I think you would make an excellent asset to the Watchdogs.”

 

“Well, you know what they say,” Robbie says, forcing a smile, “The only good Inhuman is a dead one.” The words leave a bitter taste in his mouth as he thinks of Daisy.

 

“Well said,” Omega-53 replies, nodding in approval and judging by the gleam in his eye, Robbie knows there’s no going back.

**Author's Note:**

> Comment/kudos please!


End file.
